Game Narrative Kaleidoscope Podcast

Poems Make Games Better Adriana X. Jacobs is an Associate Professor of Hebrew Literature, and also a game writer and designer. This week she talks to us about the use of poetry in games: the use of text and spoken performance to slow the player down and draw them deeper into the world of the game, in a way that more immediate world-building can't always achieve. But does it need to appeal to everyone to be worthwhile? For more info the GNK book, and to buy, visit the website: https://www.inklestudios.com/kaleidoscope/ Music by Laurence Chapman ( https://www.laurencechapman.com/ )

Choose Yourself We're joined by Josh Boykin ( Lancer Tactics ) to talk about how we bring ourselves into the work that we do - especially in a world full of injustice and very real political risk. How does being vunerable lead us to tell better stories? And how do we make sure we stay on the right narrative path when faced with so many conflicting goals and pressures? For more info the GNK book, and to buy, visit the website: https://www.inklestudios.com/kaleidoscope/ Music by Laurence Chapman ( https://www.laurencechapman.com/ )

Your AAA game should be more mundane We're joined by Emma Kidwell ( Civilisation VII , Midnight Suns ) to discuss the quieter, mundane moments that make a blockbuster game sing, by bringing out the humanity of the characters and realities of their world. How do we structure the story to allow for these moments? And how important is the player's choice of whether or not to engage? For more info the GNK book, and to buy, visit the website: https://www.inklestudios.com/kaleidoscope/ Music by Laurence Chapman ( https://www.laurencechapman.com/ )

Let’s make an 80 Days tabletop roleplaying game We're joined by TTRPG designer Graham Walmsley ( Cthulu Dark , Cosmic Dark ) to discuss his approaches to creating table-top games. How do we create a coherent world when don't have control? How do we know when our mechanics are working? For more info the GNK book, and to buy, visit the website: https://www.inklestudios.com/kaleidoscope/ Music by Laurence Chapman ( https://www.laurencechapman.com/ )

You're Not a Bad Writer, You Just Don't Get the Assignment When writers join a project, they're not always fully aligned with that project's tone and style - sometimes, it hasn't even been defined yet. Today we talk with Jill Scharr ( Destiny 2 , The Lamplighters League ) about that crucial process of getting aligned with the game, the vision and the team. How do we promote good on-boarding for new writers? How do we, as writers, explore concepts to find the style that's right for the game? And what do we do when this process is difficult, or isn't working? For more info the GNK book, and to buy, visit the website: https://www.inklestudios.com/kaleidoscope/ Music by Laurence Chapman ( https://www.laurencechapman.com/ )

A Simple Pawn A wide-ranging and fascinating conversation with writer and narrative designer Pietro Polsinelli ( Football Drama , Becoming Saint ) about writing games embedded in history, developing from the theme outwards, the importance of testing, and lessons that games writers can take into wider artistic contexts. For more info the GNK book, and to buy, visit the website: https://www.inklestudios.com/kaleidoscope/ Music by Laurence Chapman ( https://www.laurencechapman.com/ )

Localisation, Localisation, Localisation Philippa Warr ( Little Kitty, Big City , A Monster's Expedition ) joins us to talk about the process of localisation. Can digging into your script in immense detail make you a better writer? And how intentional do we need to be to cross the cultural divides? For more info the GNK book, and to buy, visit the website: https://www.inklestudios.com/kaleidoscope/ Music by Laurence Chapman ( https://www.laurencechapman.com/ )

"Tell Me More About That": Writing Characters Using a Devised Theater Approach We're joined by freelance writer Anna C. Webster ( Echoes of Wisdom , Bloodlines 2 ) about using theatre techniques to bring your characters to life. How much can we let characters drive the writing themselves? And how do we extend this approach to cover wider casts and variable production environments? For more info the GNK book, and to buy, visit the website: https://www.inklestudios.com/kaleidoscope/ Music by Laurence Chapman ( https://www.laurencechapman.com/ )

Make Something Insane: A Guide To Short Twines Nessa Cannon ( Borderlands 4 , Endoparasitic ) joins us to explain how making fast, scrappy Twine games quickly and intuitively can develop your portfolio as well as developing your core skills and confidence as a writer. What can we learn by doing things fast? For more info the GNK book, and to buy, visit the website: https://www.inklestudios.com/kaleidoscope/ Music by Laurence Chapman ( https://www.laurencechapman.com/ )

Two Tips for Better Dialogues We're joined by Kevin VanOrd ( Baldur's Gate 3 , Divinity: Original Sin 2 ), who tells us about his approaches to writing interactive conversations that keep the player involved at every step. How can a choice point keep the momentum going? For more info the GNK book, and to buy, visit the website: https://www.inklestudios.com/kaleidoscope/ Music by Laurence Chapman ( https://www.laurencechapman.com/ )

On the Purpose of Choices, and What Keeps Players Engaged We're joined by Deborah D'Antonio L.B. Almeida ( SideQuest Vol 1 , Drintera ) to talk about writing and designing choices for the most interesting player experience, and the benefits of using a very structure-first approach to write for games. For more info the GNK book, and to buy, visit the website: https://www.inklestudios.com/kaleidoscope/ Music by Laurence Chapman ( https://www.laurencechapman.com/ )

On Entering Cities (In Interesting and Memorable Ways) Konstantinos Dimopoulos ( Zero Parades ) is a game urbanist who designs cities for games. How do we bring big urban spaces to life? How do we make the best introductions to these spaces? And should we be thinking more about different ways of presenting them? For more info the GNK book, and to buy, visit the website: https://www.inklestudios.com/kaleidoscope/ Music by Laurence Chapman ( https://www.laurencechapman.com/ )

Silence! We talk to Anthony Jauneaud ( Night Call , Flat Eye ) about the value of silence in conversations. How do encourage players to hold back, and let the other characters do the talking? We discuss how to make stories more dramatic by doing less, and why every game should have a Greek chorus. For more info the GNK book, and to buy, visit the website: https://www.inklestudios.com/kaleidoscope/ Music by Laurence Chapman ( https://www.laurencechapman.com/ )

Economy and Commerce as Narrative Tools Narrative designer Raquel de Miranda ( Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden ) joins us to outline ways to use the economy of the world to drive a game's narrative. What's valuable is a core part of your world, but can it also respond to what the player does? And how would this slot into a bigger open-world game - or a tighter, story-driven one? For more info the GNK book, and to buy, visit the website: https://www.inklestudios.com/kaleidoscope/ Music by Laurence Chapman ( https://www.laurencechapman.com/ )

'I don't wanna put my lips on that:' An Ode to Adventure Game Protagonists We're joined by Eric Stirpe ( Fortnite , Minecraft: Story Mode ) about adventure game protagonists with minds of their own. What role does the player take if the protagonist's character is already defined? And does putting distance between player and protagonist allow us to have more immoral and complex characters? For more info the GNK book, and to buy, visit the website: https://www.inklestudios.com/kaleidoscope/ Music by Laurence Chapman ( https://www.laurencechapman.com/ )

Leave Nothing on the Table Veteran games writer Anna Megill ( Control , Guild Wars 2 ) joins us to talk about coherent storytelling using every part of the game dev team. How do we, as writers, get other creatives invested in the story? How do we integrate diverse ideas, and make sure people feel ownership? And how far can we push the boundaries of how we tell our stories? For more info the GNK book, and to buy, visit the website: https://www.inklestudios.com/kaleidoscope/ Music by Laurence Chapman ( https://www.laurencechapman.com/ )

The Bricks & The Gaps: What We Do & Don't Need When Building Worlds We talk with Total War and Star Wars: Jedi Survivor writer Pete Stewart about how to build worlds that leave the player with questions, even inside the walls of enormous franchises - or of history itself. For more info the GNK book, and to buy, visit the website: https://www.inklestudios.com/kaleidoscope/ Music by Laurence Chapman ( https://www.laurencechapman.com/ )

The Tina Fey Hat Problem We talk to Ed Stern ( Brink ) about the power and problems of understatement in games. We discuss how to leave room for nuance, surprise and - best of all - deception, with examples drawn from stage magic, theatrics, and the limits and triumphs of cinema. How do we tell the tightest version of our story? For more info the GNK book, and to buy, visit the website: https://www.inklestudios.com/kaleidoscope/ Music by Laurence Chapman ( https://www.laurencechapman.com/ )

Is It Relatable? Is It Sublime? We're joined by actor turned narrative designer Taage Storey ( Choices ) to discuss the relatable and the submlime in games writing. How do produce content that's entertaining, while satisfying the need to be art? Drawing on writing for romance, theatre and mass-market interactive fiction, this is a fascinating discussion on how tone and content don't always go hand in hand, and how conflict is sometimes the wrong lens for drama. For more info the GNK book, and to buy, visit the website: https://www.inklestudios.com/kaleidoscope/ Music by Laurence Chapman ( https://www.laurencechapman.com/ )

The 'Grenade!' Paradox: Writing Better Barks We talk to Giles Armstrong ( Assassin's Creed: Mirage , Helldivers II , and many other games) about the art and craft of writing barks that express character and world-building as richly as possible without overloading the script. How much can we do with the shortest, most disposable bits of writing in a game project? For more info the GNK book, and to buy, visit the website: https://www.inklestudios.com/kaleidoscope/ Music by Laurence Chapman ( https://www.laurencechapman.com/ )